Marriage dispute: Shootout at the hilltop

Seven injured in exchange of fire that lasted over an hour between two rival groups.

ISLAMABAD: Seven people sustained bullet injuries in an armed clash between two groups over a family dispute on Saturday. Twenty-seven suspects involved in the firing incident were arrested and cases were registered against them under the 7-Anti-Terrorism Act in the Bhara Kahu police station.

According to the police, a group led by Sher Asif opened fire at the other group, which was led by Raja Nisar. Both parties were from Karlot, a village near Chathar.

“The groups used automatic weapons to fire at each other from various hideouts in the nearby mountains,” said a police official.

“It was a marriage dispute that triggered the clash,” he added.

Earlier, Raja Nisar got his son engaged to the daughter of a family from the “Abbassi clan” of Ghora Gali a few days ago. His opponent Sher Asif, meanwhile, asked the family from Ghora Gali to break the engagement as Nisar’s family was not from the Abbassi clan, police said.

When Asif came to hear about this, he confronted Nisar and asked him to abstain from “maligning his family and interfering in his personal matters”. However, Asif continued with his “campaign”, police said.

After repeated attempts to resolve the issue through talks, it gradually developed into a source of permanent confrontation between the two families, police said.

On Saturday morning, Asif initiated the armed clash after he intercepted Nisar near his house and opened fire at him. Nisar’s men returned fire, which later intensified after the two groups positioned themselves at the mountain tops near Bhara Kahu.

Seven people got injured in the ensuing shootout that lasted for well over an hour.

The Bhara Kahu police, which was informed of the incident, reached the spot and cordoned off the area. Due to the seriousness of the clash, Superintendent of Police (SP) Haroon Joya accompanied by extra police force and commandoes also reached the site.

“First announcements were made on a megaphone. Police asked them to surrender and lay down their arms,” said SP Joya. When the two groups refused to surrender, the police force was divided into two groups. “One of the groups surrounded the gunmen from their back and the other continued moving forward,” SP Joya said while explaining the strategy police used to get the two groups to surrender.

The injured were shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and Federal Government Services Hospital. None of the injured was said to be in a critical condition and most of them were discharged after receiving treatment, police said.

Police, during their search operation in the area after the operation, recovered weapons including five 12 bore rifles, one 8mm rifle, empties and live ammunition.

The two principle suspects Asif and Nisar, along with 25 of their partners, were also arrested. Police have registered an FIR charging the suspects with creating a law and order situation by using prohibited weapons, attempted murder and spreading panic and terror.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2011.